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You might think the chance to make easy money in pajamas would get anyone's hackles up. So how do these schemes endure? Most victims---typically senior citizens, stay-at-home mothers and people with low incomes---are too embarrassed to file a complaint; others get so frustrated they just walk away altogether.

Smell a scam? Vet the offer with your local Better Business Bureau, which maintains a directory of local businesses. Beware: Just because the company's name is listed in the directory doesn't mean it’s a legitimate operation. These businesses change names all the time, masking their dirty track records.

Victims should contact their local or state consumer affairs agency, their state attorney general's office, the advertising manager of the publication that ran the business's employment ads and, if they received anything from the business by mail, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

In the meantime, here are a few nasty work-at-home schemes we’ve identified over the last few years. For a full list of 16, click here.

E-Commerce Con

Making a few extra bucks doesn’t sound any easier than this: Simply pay an up-front, one-time fee (a few thousand dollars, perhaps) to have someone build and host a functioning website featuring various household goods for sale, from toothpaste to toilet paper; each time someone buys an item, you collect a slice of the transaction. All you need to do is encourage people to shop there—the rest (stocking inventory, shipping the product) is handled for you. Or, more likely, nothing is handled, and the thief offering you the opportunity is long gone with your earnest money before you’ve hocked one tube of Crest.

Letter From Nigeria

Also called the 419 scam (referring to the article of the Nigerian Criminal Code dealing with fraud), this bait-and-switch has recently gained a lot of attention. The ruse takes many forms. One common flavor: An email arrives from a man claiming to be a senior civil servant of Nigeria (or another African country), who writes that he is looking for a reputable foreigner with whom he can deposit up to $60 million for safe-keeping while he deals with some dangerous political strife. In return for providing safe haven in your bank account, the thief promises to give you 30% of the money once—as one email put it—“documentations are concluded over here.” The emails may even come with a (forged) seal of the Nigerian government, just for good measure. Of course, you will be required to cough up a deposit so that you have a stake in the business venture. When your Nigerian friend later claims something has gone awry, he will ask for additional funds to tide him over---never mind that he supposedly has millions of dollars to start with. (Another non-work-at-home twist: The email may claim that you are eligible to receive a hefty inheritance from a wealthy and recently deceased diplomat or businessman. Yet another: You might be promised a handsome fee for distributing a giant stash among various charities. Yes, confirms the Federal Trade Commission: People do fall for this.